Carpeted floor



May 1l, 1948.

A. BRAGIEL El AL v CARPETED FLOOR Filed Jung/9, 1945 llllllllllll /Wyw sa Patented May 11, 1948 cAnrE'rEn FLOOR Albert Bragiel and John Scott, Amsterdam, N. Y., assignors to Mohawk Carpet Mills, Inc., Amsterdam, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 9, 1945, Serial No. 598,550

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to the carpeting of floors having a surface of cement, tiles, steel, or other materials that can not be penetrated by the nails or tacks ordinarily employed for securing carpets in place. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a novel method of laying and anchoring carpets on hard surfaced floors of the type referred to, and with a new carpeted oor `produced by the practice of that method. The use of the method of theinvention makes it possible to secure carpets in place on hard floor surfaces morey easily'and cheaply than is possible by the methods heretofore employed.

At the present time, it is the practice in laying carpet on a Wooden floor to place a cushion of hair, jute, or similar material on the floor, spread the carpet over the cushion, and then drive nails or tacks through the carpet and cushion and into the floor. Usually the -carpet covers the entire floor area of the'room in which it is laid, so that the rows of tacks along the edges of the carpet lie close to the base boards of the walls. When the carpet for a room must include a number of strips of carpet material, the strips are usually sewn together edge to edge to provide the desired width, although, in some instances, the individual strips of carpet are tacked down, in which case some of the rows of tacks extend along the floor at a distance from the walls.

When the floor has a hard surface of cement, tiles, or steel, for example, the tacksrcannot be driven directly into the floor surface and it is then necessary to drill holes in the floor. and insert Wooden plugs which the tacks can enter. As the carpet should be held in place by tacks lying a few inches'apart, it will be apparent that much labor and expense is involved in drilling the holes and inserting-the plugs in preparation for the actual laying of carpet on such a floor surface.

The present invention "is directed to the provision of a novel method of laying carpets on hard oor surfaces, which' would ordinarily have to be drilled and provided with plugs as above described. By the practice of the new method, the preliminary drilling of holes in the floor and the insertion of plugs therein is either wholly or largely avoided, so that the cost of the carpet laying operations is lowered and the operations can be performed in much less time. Y

In the practice of the method in the carpeting of the floor of a room which is to be entirely covered by a single width of carpet material or by a number of strips sewn together, a narrow strip of wood is laid on the floor along each wall of the room and is secured in place by being anchored to the base board along the wall. The strips used are relatively thin and preferably have a thickness closely approximating that of the floor cushion to be used. After the strips of wood are in place, the cushion is laid and it is of such dimensions as to lie within the area bounded by the strips with its edges close to the exposed edges of the strips. The carpet is then placed to overlie the cushion and the strips and with its edges close to the base boards. after, nails or tacks are driven through the carpet and into the strips, and the carpet is thus firmly -anchored in place by Vmeans which do not enter the floor surface and, therefore, do not require any preliminary drilling of the floor.

In cases where the edges of the carpeted area are remote from a Wall, as, for example, when a runner of carpet is to be laid to cover a passageway between rows of desks, the wooden strips are anchored to the floor along the edges of the area to be covered and, for this purpose, the floor must be drilled at intervals and plugs inserted, into which tacks passed through the strips may be driven. While this arrangement is not so advantageous as the use of the strips along the walls, it is still better than the prior method, ,in that the strips need be secured to the floor only at relatively long intervals and, thus, much less expense and labor is involved in applying thev strips and securing the carpet thereto than in securing the carpet directly to the floor.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawing in which Y Fig, 1 is a view in vertical section through parts of the wall and oor of a room in which the new carpeted floor has been installed;

Fig. 2 is -a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1 with parts omitted;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the carpet in place; and

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through a part of a, carpeted floor structure according to the invention, in which the carpeted area lies remote from the wall of the room.

In the room of which a part is shown in section in Fig. 1, the floor I0 has a hard surface, that is, a surface of cement, steel, tiles, or other materials not penetrable by the nails or .tacks ordinarily used for securing a carpet in place. The room is provided with the usual base board II Thereresting on the floor and extending up the Wall I2 a short distance and secured thereto.

In laying a carpet in such a room in accordance with the invention, a strip of Wood I3 is laid hat on the floor against the base board and is secured to the base board. For the purpose, a number of L-shaped metal c-lips vIII may be secured to the strip and to the base board by nails I5 and IS driven through the clips and into the base board and strip, respectively. After the strips are laid on the oor along the Walls of the room and secured to the base boards described, a. floor cushion I'I is placed on the floor Within the strips. The cushion` is of such area that its edges lie close to the exposed edges of the strips and it has a thickness approximately the same as that of the strips. is in place, the carpet I8 is laid on the cushion to overlie the strips and the carpet is secured in p-lace by nails or tacks I 9 driven through the carpet and into the strips.

The carpet employed maybe of suc-h size as to extend to the surfacesv of the base boardsV but, preferably, before the carpet is laid, a stripv of molding 2B is laid on each strip and against the base board and secured inplace by." nails 2 I' driven through the molding and into Ithe `base board. The molding overlies and conceals the clips I4 and the carpet I8 extends to the molding.

With the arrangement described, the carpet is held in place by the tacks I9 driven through the carpet and into strips ISb-ut, since it is not necessary that the tacks enter the floor surface, the door need not be drill-ed'and plugs provided for receiving the tacks. The `operations involved in laying the carpet, in accordance with the invention, are thus much simpler and easier 'than those heretofore employed.

In utiliz-ing the new method inlay-ing carpet on a hard surfaced rloor'over an area remote'from the Walls of a room, holes are drilled in a line along the edges ofthe area and plugs 27 are inserted in the holes. The plugsV are atA relatively long spacing and much farther apart than the tacks ordinarily used iinV securing acarpet in place. After the holes have been drilled and the plugs inserted, a strip 23'oi7`wood is. laid over each row of plugs and secured iin place.- by nails 24 driven through the strip and into the plugs. A cushion is then placed on the floor to cover the'area defined by the strips, the cushion, being of approximately th-e same thickness of thestrips. After the cushion is in place, the Ycarpet material 25 is laid over the cushion and' the strips, the carpet terminating flushy with the outer edgesV of the strips. The carpet is held in place by tacks 26 driven through the carpet and. in-tothe strips. The tacks are much closer together thanv plugs 22 so that, by the use of the strips,y much less drilling of the floor is. required. than when the ordinary method of laying the carpet is used.

In both Figs. 1 and 4, the carpet shown isv of the pile4 type, such asis ordinarily used, but it After the cushion 4 will be apparent that the utility of the new method is not limited to carpet material of any particular type. Also, although the strips I3 and 23 have been described as of Wood, strips of any suitable material, that will hold tacks and is of a stiifness comparable to that of Wood, may be used instead of Wood.

We claim:

1. A carpeted lfloor in a room which comp-rises a floor structure having a surface diflicultly penve'trable by fastening means, a relatively narrow .strip of. wood lying on the floor surface with one edge closely adjacent to the surface of a wall of the room., spaced means secured to the top of the strip and theface of the wall adjacent the strip for holding the strip in place, a cushion lyingr on the floor surface With one edge substantially in contact With the exposed edge of the strip, the cushion and the strip being of about the same thickness, a molding resting on the strip and against the Wall, the molding overlying and concealing said holding means, a carpetlyingupon the cushion and strip With its edge adjacent the molding, and fastening means passing through the carpet and into the strip for holding the carpet in place.

2. A canpeted floor in a room having a base board along the lower part of the wall surface, which comprises, a door structure having a surface dicultly penetrable by fastening means, a relatively narrow strip of wood lying on the floor surface With one. edge closely adjacent to the surface of the base board, spaced means secured to the top of the strip and the face of the base board for holding: the strip iny place, amolding partially overlying thev strip and concealing the holding means, a cushion lying on the door surface with its edge close to the exposed edge ofthe strip,v the. cushion and the strip being of about the` same thickness, a carpet lying upon the cushion and the strip with its edge close to the molding, and means. passing through the carpet and .into the strip for holding the carpet in place.

ALBERT BRAGIEL. JOHN SCOTT.

REFERENCES crrnn.

The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 22,939l Cornell Feb. 15, 1859 1,158,835 Pederson Nov. 2, 1915 1,533,074 Denning Apr. 7, 1925 1,823,987 Reel T 1- Sept. 22, 1931 2,238,946 Roberts Apr. 22, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 285,203 Great Britain Feb. 16, 1928 

